Why do diets fail?

We all know dieting isn’t sustainable for 95% of the people who diet. But why?

Popular culture tells us the convenient truth that if someone fails at dieting it’s because he or she lacks will power, is lazy, immoral and, frankly, in need of some loud shaming a la Jillian Michaels. It’s not hard to track this narrative to its source. Who wants us to believe that dieting is our personal failure instead of the failure of the diet itself?

Weight-loss products are the only products where we all take for granted that it’s USER FAILURE not product failure to blame for the reason 95% of us fail to maintain a significant weight loss for more than 5 years. Even worse, most of us don’t even ask whether we should be dieting at all!

If your doctor prescribes you a drug, that drug had to be tested and there’s no way in hell a drug would be prescribed if it only had a 5% chance of working and dubious results at best. But that’s what dieting is–it’s a technique prescribed to pretty much everyone even though the odds are against us and even though for most people who take the drug, the symptoms only get worse! That’s right–most people who diet end up fatter than they were before!

We need to eat. Unlike other behaviors people try to ditch, like smoking and drinking, eating is something we have to do to live. There are mental, emotional and physiological factors that break down the more we deprive ourselves of our means to survive.

I recently explained it to a friend like this: your body needs to eat, so if you starve it, it’s going to do its JOB by making you want to eat. This is NOT something that is wrong with you (that you want to eat)–this is your body working for you! Your body is your ally!

2. Your Body Lowers its Energy Expenditure When You Lose Weight

Lose weight? Chances are that your body will slow down to preserve energy. It seems pretty logical, right? You lose body mass so it takes less energy to keep your body running. Decreased body temperature, less spontaneous activity, and lowered resting metabolic rate have been reserved. The kicker, however, is that “the changes in energy expenditure resulting from dieting have been described as ‘disproportionate,’ meaning that they were greater than the changes expected for the amount of weight gain or loss, indicating that some compensatory mechanism meant to restore preferred weight may exist” (this has been called by some: “set point”). Basically, this means that just because you weigh 160lbs does not mean that you and your friend who is also 160lbs will have the same basal metabolic rate (in other words: you won’t burn the same amount of calories).

Michelle writes, “With weight loss, cells become more sensitive to insulin, which allows glucose to enter the cell once more. Those cells use that glucose, and the fat that would otherwise be used for energy is directed back into storage, which may spell weight gain.”

4. Your appetite increases…

In news we all know to be true, people who diet show a higher preference for high-cal, high-sugar and high-fat foods.

5. Some people are genetically predisposed to gain weight.

Michelle writes, “Research in pairs of identical twins shows that there is also a significant genetic component to weight loss, including how much and what type of fat is lost, and the rate of fat burning relative to use of glucose for energy.

On the other side of the coin, population studies of twins have shown an association between dieting attempts and subsequent weight gain, which probably reflects a pre-existing tendency to gain weight that is powerful enough to counteract weight loss attempts.”

In addition to these 5 facts above, what else can I tell you about dieting purely from experience?

Diets are thieves. They take your time, money, & patience. They exacerbate the symptom you’re trying to “cure” and there’s still so many problems we’re just learning about.

It’s infuriating to me that we blindly follow the zeitgeist that fat=bad and that the solution to all our woes [and insert "stat" here about how much obesity "costs" all of us] is that people lose weight. Why? We believe that people who lose weight are invariably healthier than they are at their higher weight and this is just NOT fact. Worse, we privilege the act of dieting and deprivation over the act of feeding our bodies. This is nuts!

If you’re sick of diets and dieting, why not call out the gimmicks and snake oil salesmen that appeared in 2013?

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If you are currently dieting–that is engaging in a set of a behaviors with the intention of losing weight–I would suggest you ask yourself the following critical questions and be incredibly honest with yourself:

How is dieting working for you?

Do you want to do this for the rest of your life?

How important is your weight really?

What do you really want and can you get it by focusing outside of your weight?

Are you ready to stop dieting? Here are 3 quick ways to get on the path to a diet-free life:

Answer all of the critical questions above honestly. Write down your answers and refer to them whenever you feel the urge to go on a “spring cleanse” or the urge to get “bikini ready” (p.s. you ARE bikini ready!) or, invariably, to create a weight-focused New Year’s resolution.Why not resolve to QUIT dieting?

Remember that feeling shame in your body will never lead you to good health or a slimmer figure. Remember that there is a $66B industry out there that is doing everything it can to make you hate yourself so that you can pay them for a “solution” that doesn’t exist (in other words, if anyone had a true & sustainable solution for weight-loss, the industry wouldn’t be worth $66B and there would be no fat people).

If you’re currently dieting, what’s keeping you from stopping? If you’ve stopped dieting, what are your tips for others to do the same?

A timely message, considering January is about roll around with the hardcore dieters coming out the woodwork. “Loud shaming”. Ugh. So true about Jillian.

Donna

Bravo..that’s all…Especially identifying with the twin study…as my identical twin has approximately twice..neigh…thrice the energy level I currently have. I marvel at her energy…I marvel at my MOTHER’S energy. I feel as if I have a good “twenty years” on my sister…all due to severe restriction and anorexia woes for over ten years. NEVER RESTRICT OR DIET PEOPLE!…My metabolism is definitely in “slo-mo” because of it….it is truly life-sapping stuff.

Love your images by the way…humorous yet very much underlining your important prose and facts!

Penny Ellis

You hit the nail on the head! Thanks for being such an inspiration to me. I’ve just started my long journey to healthier eating and am so glad to have found your blog.

You are such an amazing lady!!! I know people think I am all about the diet & all that. Honestly, I have never called the way I eat a diet.. after the initial stupid young years. I just eat the way I eat & as it changed over time – it was never a diet – it is just the food I eat… Thank you for being you!

http://FitArmadillollc.blogspot.com/ Fit Armadillo

Annabel- I’m a personal trainer who just stumbled across this blog. Boy do I wish I had sooner because I see all types of ridiculous fad diets and scams out there! This post is awesome and your journey is very inspiring. Another important fact about dieting is that dieting can cause our bodies to break down muscle when we deprive them of energy. This disgusting image keeps me on track! This is also why diets fail. Muscle tissue needs more fuel (calories) to function even at rest than other body tissue. When we diet, we end up ruining our metabolism by destroying our bodies. Thank you for sharing facts and your story so openly and honestly with us!

I’m tired, so maybe I’m reading something wrong here. In regards to #3, isn’t it a good thing when cells are more sensitive to insulin? Because if they’re not, that glucose turns to fat. It sounds like what #3 is explaining is an endorsement for ketoacidosis? Isn’t the alternate to cells not being insulin-sensative diabetes?

http://kihonfit.wordpress.com/ Kihonfit

Well said. If diets worked, there would be no need for new diets. I am a believer that sensible eating and exercise, or at least moderate activity, will get you where you want to be. First though, think about who you want to lose weight for. Is it for yourself, or for everyone else. If it is for the second reason, then I think it is the wrong reason. Do it for the right reason, and do your research before you jump on the latest diet fad bandwagon.